Singer laughs off alleged '19 Kids' extortion plot

Singer laughs off alleged '19 Kids' extortion plot

February 15th, 2012 in News

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) - A Branson, Mo., singer says he's laughing off a photographer's alleged attempt to extort the TLC reality show "19 Kids and Counting" by threatening to release photos of him with a cast member.

James Garrett told the Quad-City Times (http://bit.ly/zXQPWB) 24-year-old Amy Duggar occasionally performs in his shows, but they've never been alone together and aren't having an affair. He says photos that photographer Teresa Hunt claimed were intimate were "totally benign" and weren't taken by Hunt.

Investigators say Hunt threatened to release what she called compromising photos of Duggar and Garrett if she wasn't paid $10,000. Her attorney declined comment.

The reality show on TLC follows Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their 19 children. Amy Duggar is a cousin of the family.